The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
